EFF – Creative Commonshttps://creativecommons.org
Join us in building a more vibrant and usable global commons!Thu, 08 Dec 2016 17:40:40 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1https://creativecommons.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/cc-site-icon-150x150.pngEFF – Creative Commonshttps://creativecommons.org
3232104997560‘Reclaim Invention’ for the benefit of everyonehttps://creativecommons.org/2016/08/18/reclaim-invention-benefit-everyone/
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 17:25:59 +0000https://creativecommons.org/?p=50885The vision of the Creative Commons project is universal access to research and education, and full participation in culture to drive a new era of development, growth, and productivity. Collaboration, sharing, and co-operation are in our nature — building community, co-operating towards common goods, and creating shared benefits are at the heart of who we … Read More "‘Reclaim Invention’ for the benefit of everyone"

The vision of the Creative Commons project is universal access to research and education, and full participation in culture to drive a new era of development, growth, and productivity. Collaboration, sharing, and co-operation are in our nature — building community, co-operating towards common goods, and creating shared benefits are at the heart of who we are. But we know there’s a lot of failed sharing too, including missed opportunities, openwashing, and legal loopholes that permit individuals to take advantage of those who wish to share.

Today the Electronic Frontier Foundation is launching Reclaim Invention, a project that calls for reforms to the sharing of technologies developed within universities. The first step in the project is to get universities to stop selling inventions to patent trolls.

A patent troll is a person or company that serve no purpose but to amass patents and demand money from other innovators and inventors. Inventions made at universities in science, medicine, and technology should be made as widely available as possible—not locked up by companies whose sole purpose is to buy up patent rights and threaten other companies with lawsuits. This initiative is common sense: universities shouldn’t sell patents to trolls.

This project dovetails with other initiatives supporting openness in higher education. For example, universities have adopted open access policies to ensure the scholarly research published by their faculty remains accessible. And open courseware projects have flourished across campuses to share rich educational content on countless subjects.

Reclaim Invention is asking universities across the U.S. to sign the Public Interest Patent Pledge. It’s a promise that before selling or licensing its patents to a third party, a university will assess the business practices of that party to make sure that it’s not selling to a troll.

]]>50885EFF: Fighting for your digital rights for 25 yearshttps://creativecommons.org/2015/07/10/eff-fighting-for-your-digital-rights-for-25-years/
https://creativecommons.org/2015/07/10/eff-fighting-for-your-digital-rights-for-25-years/#commentsFri, 10 Jul 2015 19:43:41 +0000http://creativecommons.org/?p=45739The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an absolutely essential organization that defends civil liberties on the Internet. It fights for users by promoting free speech and access to technology, championing privacy, and advocating for progressive solutions to intellectual property challenges in the digital age. EFF tackles these issues with some of the smartest and most … Read More "EFF: Fighting for your digital rights for 25 years"

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an absolutely essential organization that defends civil liberties on the Internet. It fights for users by promoting free speech and access to technology, championing privacy, and advocating for progressive solutions to intellectual property challenges in the digital age. EFF tackles these issues with some of the smartest and most committed lawyers, technology experts, and activists on the planet.

EFF is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month.

The work of EFF and Creative Commons overlaps on a variety of issues, including promoting the use of open licenses for publicly funded research and educational materials, protecting the public domain, and ensuring limitations and exceptions to copyright in support of users and the public interest.

For those of you around the San Francisco bay area, check out the EFF anniversary party on July 16. And even if you can’t make it there, consider becoming a member and supporting EFF with a financial contribution. Congratulations to EFF and the incredible accomplishments they’ve achieved over the last 25 years. Here’s to another quarter century!

]]>https://creativecommons.org/2015/07/10/eff-fighting-for-your-digital-rights-for-25-years/feed/145739This is not a protest! Edit for #FreeBasselhttps://creativecommons.org/2015/03/11/this-is-not-a-protest-edit-for-freebassel/
Wed, 11 Mar 2015 15:02:42 +0000http://creativecommons.org/?p=45165In support of the #FreeBassel Day Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at the EFF, the Creative Commons Arab World will organize a virtual Arabic Wikipedia Edit-a-thon to translate and expand pages that cover topics of interest to him. Updating Arabic Creative Commons Wikipedia Page Updating Arabic Creative Commons Licenses Wikipedia Page Creating a Wikipedia Page about Copyright law … Read More "This is not a protest! Edit for #FreeBassel"

In support of the #FreeBassel Day Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at the EFF, the Creative Commons Arab World will organize a virtual Arabic Wikipedia Edit-a-thon to translate and expand pages that cover topics of interest to him.

]]>45165#FreeBassel Day 2015: Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at EFFhttps://creativecommons.org/2015/03/05/freebassel-day-2015-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-at-eff/
Thu, 05 Mar 2015 23:40:20 +0000http://creativecommons.org/?p=45042Bassel / Joi Ito / CC BY Bassel Khartabil (also known as Bassel Safadi) is a computer engineer who, through his innovations in social media, digital education, and open-source web software, played a huge role in opening the Internet in Syria and bringing online access and knowledge to the Syrian people. Many people reading this blog … Read More "#FreeBassel Day 2015: Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at EFF"

Bassel Khartabil (also known as Bassel Safadi) is a computer engineer who, through his innovations in social media, digital education, and open-source web software, played a huge role in opening the Internet in Syria and bringing online access and knowledge to the Syrian people. Many people reading this blog know Bassel through his work as lead for CC Syria.

Sunday, March 15, 2015 marks the third anniversary of Bassel’s arrest and imprisonment in Syria, as well as the fourth anniversary of the Syrian uprising.

In San Francisco, #FreeBassel supporters, artists, and members of the open community are gathering at the Electronic Frontier Foundation for a community-building event organized around a Wikipedia edit-a-thon in Bassel’s honor. We’ll be working to improve and add articles and media content related to Bassel and articles of interest to him. We’ll also be discussing his case and brainstorming about new projects and ideas to help bring awareness to his case. Here are the details:

March 15, 2015 2:00pm — 6:00pm EFF HQ: 815 Eddy St., San Francisco

No prior Wikipedia editing experience is necessary, we’ll have experienced editors present to help you get set up and make your first edit. Artists and activists interested in freedom of expression are encouraged to come contribute to the discussion. Experienced Wikipedians also welcome to come learn more about Bassel, contribute to Wikipedia, and help others to become involved.

]]>45042Why are we prosecuting students for sharing knowledge?https://creativecommons.org/2014/09/18/why-are-we-prosecuting-students-for-sharing-knowledge/
https://creativecommons.org/2014/09/18/why-are-we-prosecuting-students-for-sharing-knowledge/#commentsThu, 18 Sep 2014 17:30:40 +0000https://creativecommons.org/?p=43746In July the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote about the predicament that Colombian student Diego Gomez found himself in after he shared a research article online. Gomez is a graduate student in conservation and wildlife management at a small university. He has generally poor access to many of the resources and databases that would help him … Read More "Why are we prosecuting students for sharing knowledge?"

]]>In July the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote about the predicament that Colombian student Diego Gomez found himself in after he shared a research article online. Gomez is a graduate student in conservation and wildlife management at a small university. He has generally poor access to many of the resources and databases that would help him conduct his research. Paltry access to useful materials combined with a natural culture of sharing amongst researchers prompted Gomez shared a paper on Scribd so that he and others could access it for their work. The practice of learning and sharing under less-than-ideal circumstances could land Diego in prison.

The EFF reports that upon learning of this unauthorized sharing, the author of the research article filed criminal complaint against Gomez. The charges lodged against Diego could put him in prison for 4-8 years. The trial has started, and the court will need to take into account several factors: including whether there was any malicious intent to the action, and whether there was any actual harm against the economic rights of the author.

Let’s stand together to promote Open Access worldwide.

Help Diego Gomez and join academics and users in fighting outdated laws and practices that keep valuable research locked up for no good reason.

Diego Gomez, a Colombian graduate student, currently faces up to eight years in prison for doing something thousands of researchers do every day: posting research results online for those who would not otherwise have a way to access them.

If open access were the default for scholarly communication, cases like Diego’s would become obsolete.

Academic research would be free to access and available under an open license that would legally enable the kind of sharing that is so crucial for enabling scientific progress.

When research is shared freely and openly, we all benefit. Sign the petition to express your support for Open Access as the default for scientific and scholarly publishing, so researchers like Diego don’t risk severe penalties for helping colleagues access the research they need.

Sign-on statement:Scientific and scholarly progress relies upon the exchange of ideas and research. We all benefit when research is shared widely, freely, and openly. I support an Open Access system for academic publishing that makes research free for anyone to read and re-use; one that is inclusive of all and doesn’t force researchers like Diego Gomez to risk severe penalties for helping colleagues access the research they need.

]]>https://creativecommons.org/2014/09/18/why-are-we-prosecuting-students-for-sharing-knowledge/feed/843746Urgent: more action needed to stop SOPAhttps://creativecommons.org/2011/12/14/urgent-more-action-needed-to-stop-sopa/
https://creativecommons.org/2011/12/14/urgent-more-action-needed-to-stop-sopa/#commentsWed, 14 Dec 2011 17:03:49 +0000http://creativecommons.org/?p=30836Update 12/16 The hearings are still going on; please keep calling, emailing, and otherwise spreading the word! Tomorrow the House Judiciary Committee will debate and potentially vote on SOPA, the Internet Blacklist bill that would break the Internet. Our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation have compiled a list of 12 actions you can take … Read More "Urgent: more action needed to stop SOPA"

Soon you’ll find a huge banner at the top of every page on the CC site protesting SOPA. The Wikimedia community is considering a blackout to bring massive attention to the danger posed by SOPA. Many others are taking action. What are you doing?

Finally, remember that CC is crucial to keeping the Internet non-broken in the long term. The more free culture is, the less culture has an allergy to and deathwish for the Internet. We need your help too. Thanks!

]]>https://creativecommons.org/2011/12/14/urgent-more-action-needed-to-stop-sopa/feed/330836Urgent: Stop [U.S.] American censorship of the Internethttps://creativecommons.org/2011/11/11/urgent-stop-u-s-american-censorship-of-the-internet/
https://creativecommons.org/2011/11/11/urgent-stop-u-s-american-censorship-of-the-internet/#commentsSat, 12 Nov 2011 05:11:15 +0000http://creativecommons.org/?p=30375November 16 the U.S. Congress will hold hearings on a bill that would unfairly, recklessly and capriciously enable and encourage broad censorship of the Internet in the name of suppressing distribution of works not authorized by copyright holders. As Public Knowledge aptly summarizes, the “Stop Online Piracy Act” would seriously “threaten the functioning, freedom, and … Read More "Urgent: Stop [U.S.] American censorship of the Internet"

]]>November 16 the U.S. Congress will hold hearings on a bill that would unfairly, recklessly and capriciously enable and encourage broad censorship of the Internet in the name of suppressing distribution of works not authorized by copyright holders. As Public Knowledge aptly summarizes, the “Stop Online Piracy Act” would seriously “threaten the functioning, freedom, and economic potential of the Internet” by:

short-circuiting the legal system, giving rightsholders a fast-track to shutting down whole websites;

creating conflicts between Domain Name System (DNS) servers, making you more vulnerable to hackers, identity theft, and cyberattacks;

sanctioning government interference with the Internet, making it more censored globally.

SOPA threatens every site on Internet, but would especially harm the commons, as the Electronic Frontier Foundation explains, focusing on free software. The same applies to free and open projects beyond software, which often use CC licenses. While standard public licenses have lowered the costs and risks of legal sharing and collaboration, SOPA would drastically increase both the costs and risks of providing platforms for sharing and collaboration (think sites ranging from individual blogs to massive community projects such as Wikipedia, from open education repositories to Flickr and YouTube), and vaporize accessibility to huge swathes of free culture, whether because running a platform becomes too costly, or a single possibly infringing item causes an entire domain to be taken down.

The trend that one can plot from the DMCA (1998) to SOPA, and continued extensions and expansions of copyright and related restrictions around the world, also demonstrate the incredible importance of the commons for healthy information policy and a healthy Internet — almost all other “IP” policy developments have been negative for society at large. The DMCA was decried by advocates of free speech and the Internet, and has over past 13 years had many harmful effects. Now, in 2011, some think that the U.S. Congress ‘struck the right balance’ in 1998, while big content is dissatisfied, and with SOPA wants to ratchet the ‘balance’ (watch out, 2024!) much further to their short-term advantage.

Please take action! If you aren’t already sharing works under a CC license and supporting our work, now is a good time. Bad legislation needs to be stopped now, but over the long term, we won’t stop getting new bad legislation until policymakers see broad support and amazing results from culture and other forms of knowledge that work with the Internet, rather than against it. Each work or project released under a CC license signals such support, and is an input for such results.

]]>https://creativecommons.org/2011/11/11/urgent-stop-u-s-american-censorship-of-the-internet/feed/730375Congratulations to John Gilmore and the Internet Archive, winners of the 2009 Free Software Awardshttps://creativecommons.org/2010/03/23/congratulations-to-john-gilmore-and-the-internet-archive-winners-of-the-2009-free-software-awards/
https://creativecommons.org/2010/03/23/congratulations-to-john-gilmore-and-the-internet-archive-winners-of-the-2009-free-software-awards/#commentsWed, 24 Mar 2010 03:10:58 +0000http://creativecommons.org/?p=21353The Free Software Foundation has announced the winners of its 2009 Free Software Awards: John Gilmore (Advancement of Free Software Award) and the Internet Archive (Project of Social Benefit Award). Last year Creative Commons won the Project of Social Benefit Award. As we noted then, many past free software award winners have been important participants … Read More "Congratulations to John Gilmore and the Internet Archive, winners of the 2009 Free Software Awards"

This year’s winners continue in that fashion, even more than past winners. John Gilmore’s work in free software and free software business inspires, while his work as a co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation girds many freedoms that the knowledge layer relies upon. The Internet Archive was the most important digital repository for free cultural materials before Creative Commons existed and has been a crucial host for CC-licensed works since Creative Commons launched.

]]>https://creativecommons.org/2010/03/23/congratulations-to-john-gilmore-and-the-internet-archive-winners-of-the-2009-free-software-awards/feed/121353EFF's 20th Birthday Partyhttps://creativecommons.org/2010/02/02/effs-20th-birthday-party/
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:54:55 +0000http://creativecommons.org/?p=20441For the past 20 years, our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation have been at the forefront of the intersection between technology and law, helping to define and fight for our rights in the digital age. We’d like to congratulate them on hitting the 20 year mark. To celebrate their 20th birthday, they’re throwing on … Read More "EFF's 20th Birthday Party"

]]>20441EFF Teaches Copyright, without an agendahttps://creativecommons.org/2009/05/28/eff-teaches-copyright-without-an-agenda/
https://creativecommons.org/2009/05/28/eff-teaches-copyright-without-an-agenda/#commentsThu, 28 May 2009 18:34:36 +0000http://creativecommons.org/?p=14794When it comes to copyright, our youth are too often bombarded with extremes. The entertainment industry giants propagate a skewed perspective by launching anti-copying educational programs, leaving out much of the balanced information necessary to cultivating user’s awareness about her real rights to a resource. This results in students thinking that they can react in … Read More "EFF Teaches Copyright, without an agenda"

]]>When it comes to copyright, our youth are too often bombarded with extremes. The entertainment industry giants propagate a skewed perspective by launching anti-copying educational programs, leaving out much of the balanced information necessary to cultivating user’s awareness about her real rights to a resource. This results in students thinking that they can react in only one of two ways: by breaking the law in the face of overbearing restrictions, or by doing absolutely nothing at all with copyrighted works, effectively stifling the learning that comes of creatively engaging with them.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation recognized this problem and went to work on a copyright curriculum that would not only be fair and balanced in perspective, but comprehensive in its scope by encouraging discussion and self-education. From the press release,

“Kids are bombarded with messages that using new technology is illegal… Instead of approaching the issues from a position of fear, Teaching Copyright encourages inquiry and greater understanding. This is a balanced curriculum, asking students to think about their role in the online world and to make informed choices about their behavior.”

ccLearn has taken a look at Teaching Copyright and we commend it. The curriculum is created and vetted by lawyers and promotes a balanced teaching perspective, clearing up much of the misinformation that is current industry propaganda. Like EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry says, “Today’s tech-savvy teens will grow into the artists and innovators of tomorrow.” We need to help them “understand their digital rights and responsibilities in order to create, critique, and comment on their culture. This curriculum fills an educational void, introducing critical questions of digital citizenship into the classroom without misinformation that scares kids from expressing themselves in the modern world.”

The entire curriculum and accompanying resources on the Teaching Copyright website are licensed CC BY, which appropriately encourages students, teachers, and anyone else to adapt it to various educational needs and contexts.